Trade Mac for Jimmy G? Fragile or not, I'm taking Garoppolo over Jones every time

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Jul. 6—All the recent Jimmy Garoppolo hatred, you know, Julian Edelman sticking the knife in his back and turning it, had me thinking.

Right now, today and for the foreseeable future, would the New England Patriots be better off with Jimmy G or Mac Jones under center?

Would you trade Mac straight up for Jimmy?

The answer here, and honestly, it came pretty quickly to me, is yes. I make the deal today.

He is as maligned as any QB in the game, but Garoppolo wins. He wins a lot — — to the tune of a .698 win percentage (regular season and playoffs).

Simple math? He wins seven of every 10 games he starts.

So, there is a giant caveat with Garoppolo. and I don't mean that fact that he is in the final year of a contract, due $25.5 million this fall.

Edelman — — backing up the charge laid out by former Pats tight end Martellus Bennett — — brought that caveat up bigtime on a podcast recently. Bennett used a slur. Not going there.

It's just toughness, or the lack there of.

"We go into Week 4 (of the 2016 season when Tom Brady was suspended) and Jimmy was practicing and then decided not to play," Edelman said. "Jacoby played with no ligaments in his thumb, which — you can't do that as a quarterback. You can't grip."

Edelman didn't stop there.

"A lot of guys got mad about it. A lot of guys got mad. I'm not gonna lie — I got mad about it," Edelman said.

"I sacrifice my body all day long. I was taking shots for this, numbing up that, ribs, broken ribs, shoulders, you know, Grade 3 ... hanging on by limbs, just to play. I can understand why Marty thinks like that."

Edelman's tone told of why there are so many rumblings in San Francisco about Garoppolo having no future there.

I mean, he's only 35-16 as a starter there, coming within one bomb to Emmanuel Sanders — — a bomb which he takes way too much heat for because the receiver stopped running — — from a Super Bowl championship.

People just don't get Jimmy G. I know one guy who did, and that's Bill Belichick.

And that's why I believe if Bill got the chance to deal Mac for Jimmy straight up, he'd do it too ... with a proviso or two.

First and foremost, Garoppolo would need to sign a multi-year, extremely club-friendly extension. This only works if Jimmy cooperates.

Why would Bill want Garoppolo? First and foremost, he's on a win-now track. Belichick is 70, and he's chasing Don Shula for the NFL's all-time win record.

Does he really want to wait for Mac to mature?

Again, this is no knock on Mac. He's got the chance to be good, maybe even great.

I've actually spent a ton of the offseason watching Mac's rookie season. I went from lukewarm to enthusiastic.

But he's not in win-now mode at age 23. Garoppolo is seasoned and heading into his prime years at 30.

This is a QB with four playoff wins in the last three seasons. How many other QBs can say that? I count two — Brady and Patrick Mahomes.

Aaron Rodgers? Nope. Josh Allen? Nah.

My feeling is that Garoppolo succeeds in spite of his situation. Kyle Shanahan has zero trust in him. This is the same Kyle Shanahan who is currently taking one of the NFL's most brilliant outside assets — — receiver Deebo Samuel — — and beating the daylights out of him by regularly running him off tackle.

It works, but at what expense? Think of the pounding that he's unleashing on Samuel.

And that's the same feeling I get with Garoppolo. It works when you put the wraps on him, but at what expense? Couldn't his offense be better with some real trust in the quarterback?

Belichick wanted Jimmy here. It's well-documented. You know he's got plenty of confidence in him.

And don't you think that Belichick could break Garoppolo of his fragile nature. It's the one true knock on him. But missed time on San Francisco's dime means less wear on his tires for the next team to get him.

Look, this is all conjecture. Jimmy G most likely won't be dealt. He'll play out his contract this year with the Niners and probably move on in free agency so Trey Lance gets his shot.

And Mac has a chance to return the Patriots into the real mix among AFC contenders. You have to wonder, though, when it comes down to slugging it out with Mahomes, Allen, Joe Burrow, et al, will the kid from Alabama give you a legit shot?

Garoppolo is a better win-now option.